Removing Authenticator verification

Question

Hi all. I have an Office 365 business account that was handled by my previous Networks Admin. He left the company without any turnover documents, and we were left to secure and search what we need access to. While we have access to almost all of the accounts under our Office 365 account, we can't login to a particular one even though we have the password as there is the authenticator verification. None of us from the company has the authenticator app for this account, and we are afraid that the previous NA has it. We have no means of communicating with him and we don't know where he is now.

Are there any way we can remove this or sign in without the authenticator?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Hi, NetHoster Admin

Thanks for your update.

If my initial reply may clarify your concern, would you please vote or mark for this reply that might help other community members who has the similar issue.

Thanks for your efforts and your cooperation would be highly appreciated.

Hope you all the best and wish you have a great weekend.

Alex | Microsoft Community Moderator.

Answer 2

Hi Alex. Good Day.

Thank you for the very detailed and helpful reply.

Yes, sadly, that is the sole administrator of our account.

I will contact the phone listed for my region (Australia).

Appreciate your helpfulness.

Answer 3

Hi, NetHoster Admin

Good day!

Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist you!

According to your description, I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're facing.

First of all, would you please allow us to double confirm that you've lost the access of the sole administrator account of your organization?

If not, please contact the other administrator and reset for this specific account - Manage authentication methods for Microsoft Entra multifactor authentication - Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Learn.

If there's only one administrator account and which is the specific account which you've lost the access of it, in this situation,  the final option for you is contacting Microsoft Data Protection team by phone support -Find Microsoft 365 for business support phone numbers by country or region - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn.

Microsoft Data Protection team has only required permissionto reset your account on the backend. They are the only responsible and privileged support team for account questions.

During the phone call, you will need to provide the information you have received through your subscription, such as: Your company name, billing information, phone number, alternate email address, etc. Therefore, our privacy team can help you reset your multi-factor authentication, and after the reset, you can add your account back to your authenticator app on your new phone and set it up from scratch or choose a different authentication method to log in to your account.

Here are some tips and an example of a prompt to help you navigate the IVR more effectively:

In some countries, it is an automated conversation like: First, when you call the hotline, it will be asked as follows:

IVR: What kind of problem are you concerned about?

Customer: Lost account.

IVR: What kind of product do you use?

Customer: Office 365 for business.

IVR confirmation: education or company account?

Customer: For companies

IVR: Are you an administrator?

Customer: Yes.

IVR: Do you have the other administrator in your organization?

Customer: No.

IVR: Do you need a... Service request?

Customer: Yes

Thank you for your precious time and your kind understanding.

I hope this information helps you to reach data protection team to open ticket.
Hope you everything is going well for you.

Thank you for your precious time and your understanding would be highly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Alex | Microsoft Community Moderator.